The Truth About Holiday Weight Gain

Holiday meals make elastic waistbands necessary, but luckily studies show that an average person only gains 1 to 2 pounds every holiday season.

Unfortunately, overweight or obese people tend to gain more over the holidays (up to 5 pounds). Children tend to gain an average of 1.2 pounds, but that may also be attributed to children's growth spurts.

Of course, 1 or 2 pounds a year add up. Although a 2000 Nutrition Review study found that adults only gained an average of 0.8 pounds from Thanksgiving to New Year's, researchers warned of the long-term effects.

"Holiday weight gain may be an important contributor to the rising prevalence of obesity, even though absolute values for weight gain in this study were less than anticipated," they wrote. And we were hoping for a free pass, too.